This Old House

Our old Victorian home overlooking the vineyard is what makes the property such a special, meaningful place to us. Built around 1866, it's a daily reminder that nothing is permanent, and every day really is a gift.

Off the Oregon Trail

Our property’s first owner of record was Lancaster Clyman (from Ohio), who took the Oregon Trail out West in 1844, and finally settled here in 1850 with his wife and three daughters. Fun fact: Lancaster was the newphew of a famous explorer and frontiersman named James Clyman, who served in an Illinois militia with Abraham Lincoln, stitched the ear back onto fellow frontiersman Jedediah Smith after a vicious grizzly attack, and emphatically warned the Donner Party to avoid the California-bound "shortcut" they planned to take off the Oregon Trail in 1846.

It was James Clyman who first settled in Napa in 1848 (immediately after California became part of the U.S.), and Lancaster followed his Uncle shortly after.

This New House

After two years, Lancaster sold our land to Clayton Winkler, who at 18 had moved out from Indiana to try his luck in the California goldfields. We think Winkler found some success, because he was able to purchase 280 acres for $957 (about $38,000 in today’s dollars…land was cheap!) at a relatively young age. Clayton built a 3-room log cabin on the property in 1860, shared it with pioneer roommate Miles Chenoweth, did some farming, did more mining, then married Martha Brain in 1866 and built the Victorian that we call home today. He also built the distinctive water tower next to the house, which was very rare in Sonoma (we're not sure why he needed to store so much water given there was a creek on the property).

The Claytons had 9 children from 1867 to 1889, and farmed apples, hops, peaches, pears, prunes and grapes. In 1898, Clayton was knocked unconscious by a bull while he was repairing a fence. He never recovered and died in 1901.

We're not sure when this photo was taken, but we believe it's just after Clayton Winkler died in 1901, before the next owners began to plant new trees and shrubs.

The Winker family in 1892. That's Clayton Winkler in the center, seated with a daughter on his knee. Martha Brain Winkler is seated next to him. Clayton was 36 years old when he married Martha, and she was 17. Most of their children lived their lives here , and are buried in the family plot just down the road at Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

A New Family

Winkler’s death prompted the sale of the house. This time, it was purchased by newly-weds Melvin and Nellie Davall in 1903 (with the help of their parents). The plot was now 38 acres — down from the 280 acres that the Winkler’s had bought — and focused on growing apples and berries.

Soon there were children -- Roland, Evelyn and Dolly -- along with many photos saved in the Davall's family album. We can see the flowers, shrubs and trees that the Davalls planted shortly after buying the property (apparently, the 4 iconic palm trees that still tower over our house were the influence of Melvin's first cousin, Everett. Thanks, Everett!) We can see the addition of electrical lines. We can see the family vehicle evolve from a horse-and-buggie to the first car in the area, a 1910 EMF 30 five-passenger touring car (later rebadged as a Studebaker), which they used for trips to the coast, the mountains, and Southern California.

Roland Davall lived with his parents at the house until he was 9 years old. He later wrote: "It would take too much space to describe all the wonders of this delightful place. It was a huge 3-story house. The lower story was two-thirds underground...This was for the storage of thousands of boxes of apples. Wide cement steps led up to the front door of the living quarters, which was actually the second floor. The delicious odor of apples would permeate the house."

Sadly, Melvin suffered from serious asthma, and he was struggling in the foggy climate here. So in 1915, the family moved south to warmer, dryer Redlands CA, and that’s where we lose touch of the house's history.

Our Turn

We’re not sure what happened to the house for most of the 20th century…except that someone removed the first floor, lowering the entire structure several feet so that the second floor became the first.

But we finally came along in 1999. We were raising 4 children in a 1500 sq ft house in Santa Rosa, and desperately wanted some space and a connection to nature.

The house, for its part, needed some TLC. We stripped it down, moved walls, lowered ceilings, turned the attic into living space, repainted, cleared land, and of course, planted the vineyard.

Decades later, all the kids have grown up, but in their place are now even more grandkids, extended family and friends. And so the house continues to be what it’s always been: the center of a family’s life in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

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